If we could land (part of) it on the moon and then return (part of) that to the earth, then we could have landed a rocket on a ship at sea. But it is very non-trivial with 1969 (or even 2019) tech.
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Replying to @NoLongerBennett @TheClarksTale
Landing on a ship would have taken a vehicle as complex as the LEM, with additional capability to deal with atmosphere. Coming home in that instead of the command module would've required scaling up the entire stack and more testing. I'd estimate double the cost in $ and lives.
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hah so I happen to be in the middle of reading this https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Guidance-Computer-Architecture-Operation/dp/1441908765 … and (a) I recommend it highly (b) I think that Mark is probably - but not certainly - right. The procedure for the LEM to launch and dock w the CSM takes several hours w humans in the loop >>>
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Replying to @MorlockP @NoLongerBennett and
at three distinct locations: LEM pilot, CSM pilot, Houston, with three sets of computers. Multi hour process was to allow checking, rechecking, slow corrections. And that's w no atmosphere, so you can dawdle in 1/6 g at low altitudes. So, yes, Earth landing (basically >>>
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Replying to @MorlockP @NoLongerBennett and
also a docking in x,y,z space where dx, dy, and dz are all specified, so 6 dimensions) would be hideously computationally expensive if forced to do so in a total window of, say, 5 minutes start to finish. Much more plausible for 1960s/1970s tech is, IMO, winged flyback boosters
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Replying to @MorlockP @NoLongerBennett and
there was, IIRC, discussion of variants of the Saturn V that were winged flyback stages, which makes either human piloting or computer landing far more plausible / safe http://www.astronautix.com/w/wingedsaturnv.html …
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